


The Story of the Peppermint Leaves

by skatingonthinice



Series: The Story of the Peppermint Girl [1]
Category: Tintenwelt-Trilogie | Inkheart Trilogy - Cornelia Funke
Genre: Basta is a creep, F/M, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, One-Sided Attraction, Period Typical Attitudes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-11 13:30:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19928845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skatingonthinice/pseuds/skatingonthinice
Summary: The summer heat is overwhelming in Capricorn's village and a lonesome servant girl ventures into the ruined part of the village in look for some relief only to find Basta waiting for her.My take on the story of the girl who turned down Basta and what drove her to it. Pre- Inkheart ofc.





	The Story of the Peppermint Leaves

Capricorn’s village was insufferable or at least even more than usual. The sun had been warming up the old brick houses since sunrise and by midday the heat coming off from the stones was enough to fry an egg on. The castle was slightly better off as Capricorn had demanded his subordinates to keep the air flowing through the open windows and doors, leaving the inside at least a few degrees cooler than the surrounding buildings.

Too bad for Nora that the castle was off limits to her and she had to spend the day labouring under the sweltering sun with Mortola’s spiteful old eyes glued to her and the other servant girls.

They were carrying clothing material, food, and buckets of water for the feast that was going to be in a few days for the glory of their chief. Most of the goods naturally came from recent raids the black jackets had done in nearby settlements. Nora would have felt a lot more shame for it, had it not been for the fact that the raiders had left all newfound treasures by the gate most further from the castle and even though the walk wasn’t far in air distance, the actual going back and from would take them an hour without any breaks.

Nora felt practically drenched with sweat and would have traded the world for even a little drizzle right about then. She and her most trusted friend, Elisa, were carrying an entire roll of red velvet between them. If they lost grip even for a moment Mortola would be over them within the second. She sure kept a keen eye on them, Nora thought.

The old hag was of course only bothered by her own walking stick, even when a lot of her girls clearly were struggling with their heavy loads and could use some help. Nora sent her an ugly look whenever she looked away, but Elisa reprimanded her sternly with a raised eyebrow. Nora sighed and let go of her anger. Elisa was right- it didn’t help them. The arrangement had always been that Mortola ordered and they obeyed. There would never come a time when that changed.

They eventually made it to the small plaza before the castle, where a handful of black jackets took the load from them. One of them visibly smirked when he lifted the velvet roll over from their shoulders to his arms.

“This one’s nice,” he said, coincidentally keeping his eyes on the girls instead of the roll. “Must have come from a good merchant’s home once upon a time.”

He left with the other men, but the comment still hung heavy in the air. Elisa gave her friend a pitiful look, but Nora was careful not to entertain any pity. She smiled and waved it off, as if it didn’t bother her. It did.

In an effort to distance herself as much as possible from her thoughts she looked after Mortola, just to find that the old woman had long since disappeared inside to shout at the men for a change. The plaza emptied.

“Are you coming? Best to run off while Mortola isn’t looking, just in case. I think most of us are going to the Bend to wash off if you want to join.”

Nora considered it for a second and looked at the company of fellow working girls going down the street. She wanted to wash herself, but the riverbend was shallow and right by the surrounding wall where guards were stationed. The thought of it made her shudder.

“No, I think I’m good,” she replied.

“Suit yourself,” Elisa said with a shrug and went off in the direction of the other girls. Nora looked after her and wondered if she had made a mistake after all. It was terribly hot. On her back she could feel the sweat trickle down between her shoulder blades and her light hair was clinging to her forehead.

Still, the Bend didn’t tempt very much and all except drinking water was used up in the servant’s quarters. She stood dumbfounded for a while and finally gave up, deciding that not reeking of sweat in the end was a fair trade for being ogled a bit. Besides, she could always wash with the dress on. Hopefully it was too sweltering for the others to make fun of her for it.

She had begun walking when she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. There she smiled widely to herself and made a hard turn to the right. Her step grew lighter along with her spirit as she followed a rather unused part of Capricorns domain. The people she encountered on the way became fewer, the houses ruined and overrun by plants and trees, and the silence was palpable. It was so unlike the other parts of the town where there were fire- raisers around every turn and the air was thick with noises of work being done, people chatting and ordering, people obeying.

Where she walked now there was little or no hints of the atrocious order she belonged to. Unless she looked back she could pretend she lived in a normal village, or better yet- no village at all. I could be an explorer, she thought and ran her hand across the walls of a passing house. I could leave here anytime I wanted to.

The idea saddened her so much she had to quicken up the pace and keep her mind on her feet. At one time there was something that snapped behind her, but when she couldn’t spot anything there she reckoned it must have been an animal. She continued on, unaware of the shadow stalking her as a cat would a mouse.

  
The old well house had not been in service for a long while. A solid layer of vines coloured the front green, but behind them the foundations were crumbling and the light bricks falling apart. Nora entered through the front door, or rather the remains of it. A whiff of old dust met her as soon as she stepped in. The wooden floor creaked a little, but she ventured ahead. Elisa had spent the night here with some young fire- raiser just a few months ago, and if the floor could hold both of them then it should hold a single girl alone.

Nora studied the entry hall for a minute and when there wasn’t much else to study than the two old chairs and a table, she headed for the stairs in the back.  
It seemed to get chillier by the step as she climbed down. The darkness was not as bad as Elisa had told her, maybe because the sun was so bright and because it found its way through the foundation cracks or maybe because Nora longed so much for what rested at the bottom that she didn’t care.

Finally her feet reached the ground.

She squinted at the forms in the room and there it was.

Raised perhaps four feet above the ground was a stone well. On it there was secured a bucket with a rope attached. Nora had to stop herself from smiling like an idiot. One could think she had lived in that cursed village forever the way she appreciated a decent wash.

Anyway, she had to make sure there actually was any water left in the well before celebrating. She rushed over to the bucket and lowered it. Half a second later she heard the familiar sound of a splash and the bucket filling up. She was quick to raise it, not noticing how she was being scrutinized from behind. There was somebody else there in the half darkness and they were noticing the movements of her arms and the muscles protruding the sweat soaked garment. They watched as she hoisted the bucket to the top and rested it on the edge.  
A moment went by till she slowly lifted the bucket up again, this time far over her own head. The water came rushing down, drenching her to the bone in an instant. It splashed onto the ground and her shoes, but she didn’t seem to care. Instead she sighed loudly and ran her fingers through the soaked locks of golden hair.

She leaned forward to lower the bucket once again when someone spoke, causing her to lose it and almost fell into the well herself. She spun around, her face as pale as death and her hands ready to fight off any threats. When she saw him stepping forward she lowered her fists somewhat, unsure of what to think. There were so many things she wanted to ask, but her tongue would hardly obey. Finally she stuttered.

“Basta?”

His whole figure was visible now. With him only a few meters away the room seemed to shrink in size. He was blocking the staircase with his large frame. He wasn’t dressed in the usual black jacket, most probably because of the heat outside. Instead he was just wearing the white shirt underneath. She tried not to notice how tight the fabric was around his arms, arms that most certainly had killed people, or how his trousers bulged at the hips. How many knives was he carrying? Some of the girls insisted he never went anywhere without a minimum of three- his lucky number. One of them was supposed to be able to cut right through a mans chest.

Nora stumbled backwards only to find the well touching her back. What does he want? She wondered, not really wishing to find out.

He looked unbothered by her confusion and fear. He could almost be described as carefree if it had not been for the intensity of his eyes. They were huge, black as night, and surveying her with an unrestrained interest. Never before had she been so conscious of her body. She became painfully aware of how the wet dress clung to the skin underneath and unfortunately it looked like Basta was having the same thoughts.

“Shouldn’t you be with the other hens?” he asked, casually inching a bit nearer.

"I'm just out for a walk. I'm actually going right back to them right now."

"Is that so?" he said, eyeing her. He was close enough that she could see the veins on his exposed. "Are you in such a rush to get back to Mortola? That's right, she's done talking to the chief. Probably missing you right now."

Nora felt all the blood leave her face. "I have to go," she said and made a run for the staircase. He was so quick to block her exit that she hardly even registered it, suddenly he was just there holding her arms. His grip wasn’t hurtful, but it was firm.

“Basta, you’re scaring me,” she said.

“There’s no reason to be scared.”

He leaned in and she could feel his hot breath against her skin. “I could protect you from her, you know. If you were with me nobody would dare touch you.”

None of it made any sense to Nora, so she dared herself to look at him directly, almost sure what she would find a huge grin there, and that it had all been a joke. There was no grin, not even a smile. She was not sure what to make of it.

“I don’t even know you,” she eventually said.

“I know you though, merchant girl. I’ve seen you around since the day Cockerell set fire to your father’s house. He likes to think he has some claim to you because of that, but that’s nothing I can’t fix.” 

His lips parted and his grip fastened. Never in her life had Nora been so terrified. It was not only his breath that touched her skin now. He was kissing her neck with persistence enough to leave a mark. She feared the mark and what it could do her stable position at work. Even more than, almost immesurably, she feared what would happen if she let him continue, and equally she feared what would happen if she denied anything to one of Capricorn's upper dogs. 

As his kisses deepend and eased further down she made a split decision, praying to the gods it was the right one. "Basta?" she said, trembling. He answered with tipping his head upwards, looking her right in the eye. 

"Your breath is fucking awful."

**Author's Note:**

> I may write more of this if anybody is interested. Let me know!  
> Thank you so much for reading<33


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